Do you want to buy an atomic clock for your home or office but swarmed with choices? So, read our guideline of the best atomic clocks with indoor-outdoor temperatures!
What is an atomic clock?
Atomic clocks are the most accurate when it comes to time and frequency standards. After its invention, it automatically became an international standard, using it in GPS systems and even clocks that are used in clocks manufactured for home uses.
Why do you need one?
Every house or office needs a clock and precision is a great thing. You should know that your clock is showing the time accurately. For example, my wife is a teacher at a school so, knowing the time to get in the class and finish the class is important. Of course, you do not need to be a teacher to have a clock. You buy a clock anyway, why would you not demand an accurate one?
So, let’s dig deeper with our list of best atomic clocks!
1. Taylor Precision Products RA36213
This circular 9.25” atomic wall clock has a huge LCD display and easy-to-read digits that are bold. It utilizes the same systems as global navigation satellite systems and it ensures that the time and date are accurately displayed. Also, there is a calendar to show the month, date, and which day it is.
It shows the indoor temperature with no cables required. There is the option to show the temperature in Fahrenheit or in Celsius degrees. Lastly, you can simply mount it on your wall as easily as it can be.
What I like about its design is that it looks like the production is for home. Some clocks look like the companies manufacture it for industrial uses, but not this one.
Features
It hangs at 9.25” in diameter; however, the LCD display is about 3.25 inches. It can report indoor temperatures from 32 to 122 Fahrenheit degrees or 0 to 50 Celsius degrees.
It has good visibility and the humidity does not affect the Taylor Precision Products RA36213. I personally live in a very humid area and moreover, I placed my RA36213 in my bathroom, just the display gets foggy. Despite that, it still shows the same time as my other clocks.
The only thing I do not like about this clock is that it does not glow in the dark. It would be a great feature to have it. In fact, that is why I placed it in my bathroom. But so far, so good.
Pros
- It has large, bold, and easy-to-read digits.
- Humidity does not affect the clock
Cons
- Glowing in the dark would be a surplus but now it is just a slim setback.
2. La Crosse Technology WS-8117U-IT-AL
La Crosse Technology is a very well-known brand that has a very large variety of products ranging from weather stations to atomic clocks. It wirelessly shows indoor and outdoor temperatures. Using the date, it shows moon phases with fancy icons. It also automatically updates daylight savings. So, you do not need to set your clock every time there is daylight savings time.
It has a perpetual calendar that shows the date, month, and day of the week.
Features
La Crosse Technology specializes in weather so their number one feature is obviously to calculate the indoor and outdoor temperature. Its transmission range is up to 330 feet. The device is very easy to set and use. Other than that, it calibrates itself using radio signals within one second. You should note that it adjusts itself.
You can personalize your clock extensively. If you want 12-hour or 24-hour clock modes, it is doable. You can set your own time zone from GMT –12 to GMT +12.
The La Crosse Technology WS-8117U requires you to have 4 AA batteries. Basically, you need to place 2 for the base unit and 2 for the remote unit.
The only thing I did not like a lot is that it sometimes fails to receive signals. However, it comes back after seconds and it self-adjusts.
Pros
- The well-designed clock has many preference options.
- 330 feet between the remote unit and the clock is long enough to cover big distances. I love it.
Cons
- As I said, it rarely collects no signals for a few seconds before working back to normal.
3. La Crosse Technology 513-1417CH-INT
There comes another La Crosse Technology product. The La Crosse Technology 513-1417CH does what it does very well. It shows the time accurately with its atomic clock and measures the indoor and outdoor temperatures. You can choose if you want to see the temperatures in Fahrenheit degrees or Celsius degrees.
It utilizes atomic time and date even though you can manually set it in its options. It also automatically updates for Daylight Saving Time just like the previous one we mentioned. Indeed, you can enable or disable automatic Daylight Savings Time. There are 12 moon phase icons that show it thanks to the date on the clock.
Features
It has a jumbo size and easy-to-read time digits which are 2.125 inches. It has a very expressive manual which is 8 pages long. However, it does not need such a long manual as it is one of the simplest things to set up.
There is the broadcast symbol right above the “seconds” section which is there for showing how strong the signal is and showing if it receives a signal. Another symbol is that it shows trends of indoor and outdoor temperatures. If there is an up arrow, it means the temperature is going up, the down arrow is going down while the right arrow means that it is steady.
It also keeps records of highs and lows. It is also visible in its display.
One thing I did not like is its visibility problems. I mean the digits are large enough to read but there is no backlight which makes it hard to read it in dim light.
Pros
- Many features about temperature are quite interesting such as temperature history, trends, etc.
- It keeps its accuracy. I set a wrong time on purpose and it just corrected itself. To make sure, I checked it on time.gov and even its seconds were correct.
Cons
- No backlight is a setback for such clocks.
4. Meofia Projection Alarm Clock
The next one on our list is Meofia Projection Clock. Its atomic clock connects easily after plugging its A/C adapter. It also projects indoor and outdoor temperature with its embedded sensor and outdoor sensor. There are different brightness levels on the display unit; however, even the lowest brightness level gives too much light, in my opinion.
The digital alarm clock with a jumbo size LCD screen provides you with the weather forecast, current indoor temperature and humidity, and outdoor temperature and humidity. In addition to that, the same LCD screen also displays time, calendar and weekdays.
Features
The alarm clock is working quite well. You can snooze it starting from 5 minutes to 60 minutes. There are two alarms available to set. One for Monday to Friday and the other for weekends. One thing to make sure you will wake up in a good mood is that the alarm gets louder and louder step by step so that you will not be jumping out of your bed. The alarm will stop after two minutes.
Its weather station is extremely useful. The weather stations are as easy-to-understand as it can be and when there is too much humidity it notifies you about the mold risk. The clock also predicts the weather for the next 12 hours thanks to its barometer on its outdoor sensor. Additionally, it shows trends in such a clear manner. The trends it shows are the barometric pressure trend and the temperature trend. Apart from that, there are really cool icons to show how things are. These icons include 6 different weather conditions and 5 smiley emojis for the room environment.
One thing that can be said is maybe you should not trust its forecasts as it is not a professional weather station.
Pros
- The text looks so clear and big enough.
- It is pretty useful to have an indoor and outdoor temperature with such accuracy. To know what you are going to wear before leaving home is a good thing.
Cons
- Screen’s brightness level is just too much. I would have liked a dimmer background light.
5. La Crosse Technology WS-8115U-S-INT
The fifth on our list is another La Crosse. The La Crosse Technology WS-8115U. It is very similar to the other product we mentioned, the WS-8117. In addition to that, it wirelessly monitors both the indoor temperature and the outdoor one. It adjusts itself automatically according to the Atomic Clock on time.gov. I set it on my table; however, you can also hang it on your wall. Both will be fine.
Daylight Savings Time will not be an issue here just like many other La Crosse Technology products. The clock automatically updates itself.
The outdoor sensor comes with a transmission range of 260 feet. If you are living in an apartment, you should hang it on your balcony provided that you have one. If you are living in an apartment with no balcony, we recommend you hang the sensor outside your window.
The clock has four different languages that you can choose from. These are English, Spanish, French or German.
Features
Your clock will be free from cables. It works with 2 AA batteries for the clock itself and 2 AAA batteries for the outdoor sensor. In the case of a low battery for clock and wireless sensor, there is an indicator showing that.
You can also use it as an alarm clock. However, you cannot set different alarms. You can only set one alarm and it will repeat itself every 24 hours unless you deactivate it. You can snooze the alarm for 10 minutes.
Pros
- It is a real energy saver, working with a total of 4 batteries and not needing to change as often as many other weather station clocks do.
- Outdoor and indoor temperatures are quite accurate. I compared it with a more professional weather station than mine.
Cons
- If you wanted to use it as an alarm clock, you would have liked to set different alarms.
6. AcuRite Intelli-Time Alarm Clock
There comes our last recommendation: AcuRite Intelli-Time Alarm Clock. AcuRite is quite a well-known brand in amateur and professional weather stations so the temperature measurement is not an issue here. The clock’s indoor temperature and humidity performance are above average.
On its display, there are many icons such as the moon phase or home comfort. Like an atomic clock, it also adjusts itself even if you purposefully set the wrong time. Daylight Savings Time is also not a problem here as it sets itself.
Features
There is an auto-powered backup system in case of a power outage. Do not worry about power outages at all! The clock remembers your time or alarm settings after power outages or after you unplug it.
One thing I really like is that it dims its brightness automatically.
Another thing is that it has an alarm clock that is designed for heavy sleepers. The volume increases incrementally over a span of 2 minutes. You can snooze it or turn it off completely.
Maybe one of the few things that I would not expect from a company such as AcuRite is that it is hard to read the display screen from different angles. I wish it was a bit more well-thought.
Pros
- Auto-Dim is perfect for bedroom use. You can set the brightness level too. It is good that it does not blind.
- Good indoor/outdoor temperature performance.
Cons
- Reading the display from different angles is hard.
Conclusion
To sum up, we all have used lots of clocks. All we care about is their accuracy. So, these ones are the ones that I definitely recommend if you want to have a clock with precision and learn about the indoor and outdoor temperatures.